Career profile
Michael Palmer
Chief Information Security Officer, Hearst
- Current role, per sources checked 2 November 2026
- 19 August 2019
Michael Palmer is the Chief Information Security Officer of Hearst, appointed in August 2019.
Career path
Palmer joined the National Football League in 1997 as a senior engineer.
He was named director of shared services infrastructure communications in 2009 and became director of information security in 2012.
That same year he built the league's information security office from the ground up, and in 2014 he became the NFL's first chief information security officer.
As NFL CISO he oversaw the operations and expansion of the league's enterprise-wide information security strategy, led the development of security architecture for its television networks and digital channels, and directed cyber operations during cornerstone events such as the Super Bowl.
He also chaired the NFL's Information Security Risk Management Committee and served as a committee chair on the league's Diversity Council.
Hearst announced on August 14, 2019 that Palmer would become its chief information security officer, starting August 19 and reporting to Chief Information Officer Mahendra Durai.
By February 2020 Palmer was listed as Hearst's Chief Information Security Officer when he joined Grambling State University's Technology Advisory Board.
Remit and public contributions
At Hearst, Palmer leads enterprise-wide vision, strategy and architecture of information security and technology risk management, and works to integrate IT security as a component of business operations across the company's more than 360 businesses.
He serves on the Grambling State University Technology Advisory Board and the Rochester Institute of Technology Computer Security Advisory Board, where he helps shape educational programs for future cyber defenders.
Palmer co-chairs the governing body of the New York CISO Executive Summit run by Evanta and sat on the programming committee for the RSA Conference's 2019 CISO Boot Camp and CISO Insight track.
Describing his motivation for joining the Boot Camp's Program Committee while still CISO of the NFL, Palmer said he had noticed "there wasn't enough diversity in the programming."
He also serves on the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals Strategic Advisory Board.
Palmer holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in computer information systems from Baruch College.
He holds certifications including CISSP, CISM, CCISO, CRISC, CIPM and ITIL V3, and earned a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secret Clearance.
